>I can say with some confidence that an alcoholic Fox News talk show host is not smarter than me.
Well he was valedictorian at his high school and graduated from Princeton University. I wonder if the Pete Hegseth from Princeton is the same Pete Hegseth today. I don't know, maybe he got messed up somehow during one of his three tours overseas serving in the military.
Valedictorian means something, but going to Princeton doesn’t. There are plenty of morons who manage to graduate from Ivy League schools, I have met lots of them. I can guarantee you that there is at least one politician that you think is an idiot that graduated from an Ivy League.
He might have been a genius at one point (though I doubt it), but I do not think that a Fox News host who brags about never washing his hands [1] is smart. Maybe drinking messed up his brain.
Yes I know about elites who went to Ivy Leagues. Hell Bush Jr. went to Harvard.
But looking at Hegseth's family history (Father was a basketball coach, Mother was a "executive business coach") maybe they were upper middle class but definitely not elite so I suspect that his academic credentials played a major role in his admission and not any monetary contribution.
>He might have been a genius at one point (though I doubt it), but I do not think that a Fox News host who brags about never washing his hands [1] is smart. Maybe drinking messed up his brain.
Hence why I wondered if he got "damaged" in some way during his military career(three tours overseas, one at Gitmo).
On a side note: I find it absurd that people are mass downvoting something that is literally just one google search.
Without knowing the criteria (as best I know, it's not just based on academic excellence but other things like sports[0] and extracurriculars), it's not much of a claim.
[0] Hegseth was a leading basketball and football player for Princeton.
In the US, the valedictorian of a high school is typically the person with highest academic grade point average. I've never heard of it considering sports participation, although Wikipedia does suggest that sometimes extra-curriculars are now being considered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valedictorian. But given his age and absent outside information, I think the fair assumption is that he won because he had the best grades in his courses.
Others have explained what Valedictorian means: highest class rank based on academic marks. His father was a basektball coach, mother was a "executive business coach" so likely middle class to upper middle class. That excludes making large monetary contributions to gain admissions (ex. Bush Jr.)
It really seems like his admission to Princeton was based on a combination of excellent academic performance combined with his athletic ability which is often a boost for applications in competitive schools like Princeton.
Well he was valedictorian at his high school and graduated from Princeton University. I wonder if the Pete Hegseth from Princeton is the same Pete Hegseth today. I don't know, maybe he got messed up somehow during one of his three tours overseas serving in the military.